Aurora Borealis
by CounterHegemonic
Summary: Arthur Kirkland migrates to America to escape his father and finds two orphan boys he ends up looking after, their names, well, Alfred and Matthew, of course. Now he has to take care of them. Human names. AU Kind of Alternate history .


Arthur looked around nervously. He didn't let it show on his face though. That wouldn't be befitting a man of his station. He shook his head. He didn't have to think that way anymore. He was in America; he had hopefully left his position behind in England as well as the strict code of conduct his father imposed. Hopefully, his father's influence couldn't spread here. He just had to stay away from any government officers or nobles that may recognize him due to his remarkable resemblance to his father. As he had been thinking. he felt a hand snake towards his pocket. He reached downward and grabbed it, pulling the arm up in front of him. The attempted pickpocket was a ten year old boy, he was wearing clothes much to big for him and looked grubby. The boy immediately tried to struggle away, but Arthur's grip was too tight.

"Stop struggling, you brat," Arthur hissed. He didn't stop. "Stop now or I'll call the police on you." He stopped.

"Please don't, sir. I'm sorry. I just-"

"Tell me over there." Arthur began to drag the boy over to a deserted area. He kept a strong hold on the boy because he knew that if he loosened his grip at all, the boy would slip away and fade into the crowd. They entered a deserted alleyway.

"Now, tell me why I shouldn't report you to the police."

"I'm sorry sir. It's just I needed money and you looked like you could spare some."

"Why do you need money so bad?"

"Because- Because the lady I'm staying with says that if I don't make enough money, she'll sell my brother." Arthur was skeptical.

"And where is your brother?"

"At home. He barely ever leaves the house. Especially with me."

"Why?"

"Because he's sick and I won't run away without my brother.

"I see."

"Tell you what sir. You're going to be the target of every thief in town. With those posh clothes n'all. I know where I can get some clothes. You'll have to pay but I don't think that'll be a problem for ya. And in return, you won't report me to the police. Sound good?"

"I suppose." Arthur did want to get out of the stifling clothes and having a guide would be nice. "Lead on."

"'kay." They walked through the town. The boy, who introduced himself as Alfred, continued his stream of words, talking about people he knew, the city and more. Arthur didn't pay much attention but he did notice that Alfred didn't mention his home life or his brother.

"Excuse me, Alfred." He finally asked. "Where are we going?"

"The house. It's where we're living right now." He led him to an apartment up some stairs. When they entered the door, another boy, who was currently sweeping the floor looked up at them. Arthur was shocked by the similarities. The boys looked almost exactly alike, excepting the hair and the eyes. Alfred's eyes were a bold shining blue whereas the other's were a shy, sparkling violet.

"H-hello, Al-" He stopped and looked down when he saw another person in the doorway.

"Hey, Mattie!"

"W-w-what i-i" He gave up talking and just pointed at Arthur, his cheeks blushing for the lack of words.

"Oh you mean, what is he doing here." Matthew nodded. "He wants to buy clothes and I brought him back here."

"D-d-do y-you want m-me t-to-" Embarrassed again, he pointed at the bed room.

"go get Mrs. O'Neill?"

"Y-yes." He left the room a little faster than normal walking speed. _Poor boy_, Arthur thought, _He's so shy. I guess he doesn't like strangers._

Matthew went into the bedroom.

"Umm, M-mrs. O'Neill?"

"What?" She was angry at him for waking her up.

"Ummm, t-there's someone h-here. A-Al brought him. H-he w-wants to buy c-clothes. H-he's r-rich."

"Tell 'im to go away. 'e can come back tomorrow. And for Pete's sake stop stuttering."

"Y-y-yes, yes, Mrs. O'Neill."

"And tell Al to get back to work."

"D-do you w-want me t-to t-take him to a h-hotel r-room?"

"Fine, but get your chores done." He nodded and left.

"Ummm, M-m-mrs. O'Neill says f-for h-him to come b-back to-tomorrow."

"Okay," Alfred took over, much to Matthew's joy. "I'm sorry for the wait but Mr. O'Neill isn't here. If you want to come back tomorrow. Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?"

"No, actually."

"I'll find you a hotel to stay at."

"A-Al, you're s-supposed to get b-back to work. I-I can t-take h-him."

"Are you sure, Mattie?" He nodded, trying to look brave(like his older brother) but didn't succeed. "Okay, well then, I'll be off. See you, Arthur. Bye, Mattie, be careful." He left. Matthew turned to Arthur.

"Umm, w-well, if y-you w-would f-follow me."

"Sure." He turned and headed out the door, looking back every couple seconds to make sure Arthur was following. Arthur noticed him getting paler and seeming more nervous.

"Matthew," he spoke quietly and tried to sound reassuring. Matthew looked straight at him for the first time and then dropped his eyes. "Are you scared of going outside?" He blushed again.

"M-m-maybe. W-well, j-just a l-little."

"Is it the people?" He nodded. When Arthur didn't say anything, he turned and continued walking. Matthew was fine on the less crowded streets but once they got onto a larger one, people knocked him to the side. Arthur knew that to get through, you had to fight your way. Matthew didn't seem to realize it and stopped trying to move, letting the people move around him, pushing him around. One man shoved him hard and he fell. Arthur stepped forward, instantly wanting to protect the little boy from being stepped on or kicked.

"Hey, Matthew. You have to get up now." He wasn't sure how Matthew would react if someone touched him. He reached down and pulled him up. Matthew couldn't help but flinch when he was touched. He checked him over for injuries and saw that he was crying. "Why are you crying? Are you hurt?" Matthew shook his head.

"I-I'm j-just s-scared. N-normally, A-Al is w-with me."

"Do you want me to hold your hand? I can lead you through the crowds." He nodded. Arthur took his hand lightly. Arthur noticed that Matthew was trying to say something.

"What is it, Matthew?"

"I-I-I'm s-sorry." Arthur wasn't sure what to do at this point. He had never had much experience with children. He settled on being comforting.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. Now come on we have to find that hotel." Matthew squeezed Arthur's hand in fear as they stepped back into the fray. As someone bumped the little boy again, he moved closer to Arthur trying to avoid being pushed. Arthur looked down at the scared little kid; he felt bad for the two children and their situation. A thought sprang into his mind. _What if I took care of the kids? I have more than enough money. They were just kids, after all. I could tell that neither Alfred nor Matthew wanted to be living there so why not? They didn't deserve this kind of life. What am I saying? I don't know how to take care of children. They were probably better off without me. I am still you young, only early twenties so how do I expect to take care of two eleven year old boys? Just forget it. But I cant just leave them like this._

"Umm." Matthew's voice interrupted his thoughts. "W-we're h-here. I-If y-you don't l-like it, I c-can f-find another h-hotel." He surveyed the building.

"No, no this is fine." _I'll find his address tomorrow. It's too late anyway to look for him. _Matthew turned to leave, dreading the walk home.

"Matthew, can you get home fine?"

"Y-yeah."

"Matthew, are you happy living there?" There was a pause. "Are you?"

"I-I'm f-fine. I m-mean I g-get f-food and t-there's somewhere to l-live."

"I didn't ask whether you were doing well; I asked whether you were happy." There was another pause.

"No-n-no. I g-guess n-not. But as l-long as I'm w-with my b-brother, I'm f-fine."

"Well, here." He passed him a coin. "Just promise me that you wont give it to the O' Neills. Keep it and buy something nice for you and your brother."

"I-I p-promise." He placed the coin into his pocket carefully. "T-thank y-you." He walked off. Arthur couldn't help but worry about him. Well, he gave him some money so they might have a little bit of happiness and he would be at their house the next day.

Matthew took a deep breath then stepped out into the street; he tried to stay on the side, but there were so many people and they were all elbowing and shoving one another.

_Okay_, Matthew though, _I can do this. Al crosses the street all the time. If I cant do this I'm even more useless. _

He kept moving, trying to stay against the wall for support. He finally got on one of the side streets. He sat down in relief. He didn't feel very good anymore. He felt really warm and dizzy and he had trouble getting air into his lungs. This happened when he was around too many people. First he'd get a fever and feel dizzy and then it started to get hard to breathe. He tried to breath normally. In and out, in and out. _Everything's fine. I'm out of the crowd now._

He slowly calmed himself and felt air come back. He stood slowly and groaned. The fever and dizziness hadn't quiet gone away. The ground shifted beneath him. He stood leaning against a wall until the earth stopped moving. Then he walked slowly home. When he entered, he found that Mr. O'Neill was home, drunk. Mrs. O'Neill walked over to him.

"Did ya get a tip?" Remembering his promise, he shook his head. She smiled at him. "Well then, ya wont mind turning out your pockets, right?"

With fear, Matthew turned out his pockets. His hope that the coin wouldn't be there vanished when something shiny clattered on to the floor. Matthew saw the look in her eyes as she watched the coin. That look was greed. And greed can make a person do anything.

"So you've hiding money from us. That's not nice. Remember who feeds you and lets you stay here. But most of all, remember how useless you are." _The words hurt me because as I know only to well, they're true._ Mr. O'Neill walked over, he was holding his belt and advancing slowly. Matthew cringed. He knew that the the beatings were worse when he was drunk. Matthew called for Al mentally. _Where are you brother? Where's my hero? Al! Allll!_

I hoped you enjoyed it. This is my first try of Hetalia(I do more book fanfiction- Evil Genius, HIVE(Its a crossover fic). Yes that was a plug.) I specialize in one shots(Mostly angsty(I have some Ender's Game ones that make me want tocry)) but this one will have something completely unheard of. . .a plot. Anyway, I really hope you will review. I want to know what you think.

I have a couple questions.

Is it OOC?(Keep in mind that all the characters are a little different, considering the circumstances.)

Does Matthew stutter too much?(He is very nervous around people though, especially strangers. That's due to what happened(No, I will not ruin the story.) And he is around a stranger for almost the whole chapter)

What did you think of the slang/accents? Any more? Any less? Spotty?

Do I have everything historic to that era?(This is around the eighteenth century. I know that America wasn't especially tied to England but I'm making up a little bit. It's important to the plot I may or may not have.)

Who do you think the _he _Arthur thinks about should be?(It's his childhood friend that left his country for America around ten years ago and Arthur is going to go stay with him after he can find his address.) I'm trying to decide. All suggestions are welcome.

Do you have any suggestions? I'll write stuff in if I like it. Especially cute scenes.

Lastly,(the dreaded question), what did you think?

See ya next time.


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